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• Back to the Future

The episode picks up where the last one left off, with future Peter transporting present Peter to a future full of people with superpowers. At first, it doesn’t seem so bad— people just fly to work. But when anyone can pay to have access to superpowers, there are always people who will take advantage of their abilities. Future Peter wants to destroy the formula that gives people powers, but before he can tell present Peter much more than “find Sylar,” he is shot and killed by a super-badass future Claire.

Cut to the present, where Suresh is dealing with the nasty side effects of his hastily injected formula. Apparently, he never watched The Fly, because if he had, he would know that self-experimentation and sex are a terrible mixture. His freaky rash is spreading, and his fingers have started sticking to things. Yum. When present Peter goes to visit him in the future, his apartment is filled with cobwebs, and he is hidden in shadows. All we see is him scurrying on the floor and trying to hide scabbed hands. He tells Peter where to find Sylar, but warns him not to go.

Of course, Peter goes. When he finds Sylar at Claire’s old house, he is making pancakes for his son, Noah, and calling himself Gabriel. He greets Peter as a brother, but is upset when he realizes that Peter lacks the scar that future Peter should have. Peter asks Sylar to give him his ability in order to stop the destruction of the world. He does after he realizes that his son will be endangered, but he warns Peter that a hunger comes with it. Badass Claire shows up, accompanied by Daphne, who is now shacking up with Parkman, and Knox, one of the guys who broke out of Level 5. A fight ensues, Noah is killed, and Sylar explodes, destroying all of Costa Verde.

Nathan is president in this future, too, and he’s married to Tracy the ice queen. When he goes to see Peter, who has been tied down and tortured by future Claire, he frees him, only to have Peter kill him because he hungers for Nathan’s power. Horrified, Peter teleports back to the present. He confronts Sylar, who tells Peter that they are alike, and he calls him “brother.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Petrelli tells Hiro that he can prevent the combination of the two halves of the formula, but he has to dig up Adam Monroe. He does, and that’s where the episode ends.

This episode was much better than the previous three of this season. Heroes and the future always seem to be a winning combination. Future Claire is pretty scary, but she’d be even better if Hayden Panettiere could actually act. It’ll be interesting to find out what exactly is going on with Suresh. Also good is that they’ve replaced Ali Larter’s Niki with identical Tracy, who is much more interesting and much less annoying. One thing to look out for is Hiro. In the first season, he was enthusiastic and fun when everyone else just seemed worried all the time. Now, he’s becoming a caricature of that Hiro. In this episode, he told Ando that he would try to change himself and the future. Hopefully, he succeeds in both.